Landrieu Calls Out O'Keefe & Crew For 'Feeble Explanation'

[KittyWampus]

Landrieu Calls Out Phone Tamper Crew For 'Feeble Explanation'
Justin Elliott | January 28, 2010, 5:30PM

Sen. Mary Landrieu is blasting the men charged with tampering with the phones at her New Orleans office, dismissing a new explanation from the attorney of one of the men as "feeble."

"Senator Landrieu believes this feeble explanation is a clear and calculated effort to divert attention away from the fact that his client stands accused of a federal crime that could land him in prison for up to 10 years," said Landrieu Press Secretary Rob Sawicki, in a statement to TPMmuckraker.

Sawicki added: "The fact remains that they perpetrated a false identity scheme on building security by posing as telephone workers and attempted to manipulate the phones in her office. The only people these four individuals have embarrassed are themselves and their families."

Garrison Jordan, the attorney for Robert Flanagan, told the AP today that his client and the three other men charged in the case were trying to embarrass Landrieu by somehow documenting charges that her staff was ignoring calls from constituents opposed to health care reform.

Jordan told the New York Times the episode "was just an ill-designed stunt with no intent to commit a crime."

The men, including filmmaker James O'Keefe', are charged with entering federal property under false pretenses for the purpose of committing a felony -- "maliciously interfering with a telephone system operated and controlled by the United States of America."

The affidavit alleges that Flanagan and Joseph Basel, dressed as repairmen, asked a Landrieu staffer to direct them to the phone closet after purportedly testing the office phone. When they arrived at the General Services Administration office in the same building, they were denied access to the phone closet after being asked for ID.

Landrieu told the Times today that her staff, skeptical about the men's lack of identification, walked Flanagan and Basel to the GSA office.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/01/landr...

[kratos12]

1. If these chuckleheads aren't

sanctioned severely and tabbed for life as felons, they will simply grow up to be the next generation's Kral Roves and Lee Atwaters.

If they skate, the nation will suffer from their future exploits.

[MadMaddie]

7. kratos12 I think the result will be much worse

The 4 men committed a felony at a Federal Building if they are not successfully prosecuted as someone who would be but theydidn't have money or were not Republicans it will be plainly confirmed there are two classes of people in the U.S.

Oh and if they are not prosecuted because of so called "youthful indiscretiions", I think it will set a very bad precedent for the future.

Welcome to DU!!

[MUAD_DIB]

12. I'm 45, and young at heart. Do I still have time to commit one of these

youthful indiscretions and walk?

[MadMaddie]

15. Ha..ha.. I am afraid you and I would be thrown under the bus

[hay rick]

2. Judge comes down hard on O'Keefe.

Told him he had to go stay with his parents in New Jersey. Story here: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/01/judge...

Poor boy's in Time Out. Oh, the humanity.

[stevedeshazer]

3. While there is much disagreeable about Mary Landrieu's politics, this response is perfect.

These young right-wing dopes are hurting their own cause.

[underpants]

4. Oooh! they brought their families into it

that is a slap in the face Louisiana or otherwise

it also brings their families into it, drawing attention to who they are


and

I love it. Nice play. I liked mentioning the 10 years too-that condemns them to at least owing ten years in the public eye. They framed the debate.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. "filmmaker James O'Keefe" ???

He's a teabugger, not a filmmaker.

[Canuckistanian]

8. "Hey, look, Ma, I made a video. I'm a film-maker"

"That's nice, son. Why don't you send it to those nice folks at Fox news?"

That's the extent of O'Keefe's "film making"

[Beartracks]

6. If they were attempting to "manipulate" the phones...

... in order to "somehow document charges that her staff was ignoring calls"... how could that be done WITHOUT wiretapping -- a word that I've noticed must be being dropped from reports of this event due to legalities?

[More_liberal_than_mo]

9. Does Watergate ring a bell

Breaking into a political opponent's office, wire-tapping, federal crimes that should be punished to the full extent of the law. Ten years! no less.

[Beartracks]

14. I mean, I don't hear the MSM using the charge of "wiretapping"...

... as if somehow, legally, they haven't been charged with that. But what else could "manipulation of telephone equipment for the purposes of monitoring" be? Is their (or their lawyer's) wussy claim that they weren't going to actually eavesdrop, but were only going to monitor quantitative information (like # of calls ignored)?

[theothersnippywshrub]

10. Good for Landrieu. Don't let the teabuggers get away with the "youthful prank" meme. n/t

[blondeatlast]

11. Well done. Don't like her politics, but props for putting the apologists on the defensive.

Nicely done, indeed.

[JoeyT]

13. Of course the most hilarious part of this whole thing is

watching the supporters of these fine young morons twist themselves into knots trying to defend them.
You know, the same people that constantly shriek about being tough on crime.
The ones that constantly cry about how we're at war trying to explain why tapping a member of the federal government's phone shouldn't be illegal. While we're at war. (If this kid hadn't been whiter than notebook paper, they'd be screaming that he's a spy.)
The same ones that whine about tapped phones. (Which I agree is bad, but I'm also not defending someone that does it.)

I say we nail them for spying. We are at war after all. Otherwise the terrorists win.

[TexasObserver]

16. It's hard out here for a pimp.

[Arkana]

17. Well, Landrieu's response is acceptable.

I half expected her to apologize to O'Keefe for being liberal enough to warrant investigation.

She surprised me.

[arcadian]

18. So all one needs to be a "film maker" is a camera phone?

Hell, nominate me for an Oscar or a Palme D'or I've got a few ambush videos on Youtube myself.